Bladder Control: The Real Deal

[x]   Tags: Urinary Incontinence, Overactive Bladder, Urination, Bladder, Stress Incontinence, Urge Incontinence: Bladder Surgery, Sexual Health, Womens Health, Reproductive Health:Health, Health Video, Medical Videos, Medical, Video

[x]   Transcript: You probably know someone with urinary incontinence. Chances are she'll never tell you-it's not exactly grocery aisle conversation-but she's there. I know because it happens all the time. Women come into my office saying, 'I just want to work out in my gym without wetting my pants' Sometimes urinary incontinence is associated with pelvic organ prolapse, however, not every woman with prolapse leaks urine, and plenty of women wearing incontinence diapers have no prolapse whatsoever. But it doesn't matter why you have bladder problems or when they started. All that truly matters is that you can tell your doctor what's going on with your bladder. It's that simple. There's not a single thing appealing about wetting your pants every time you cough, sneeze or lift something heavy. This type of 'exert and squirt' incontinence is easily remedied with a minimally invasive sling procedure or urethral bulking injections that take 20 minutes and can be done at the same time as prolapse repair. If you are planning a sling or urethral injections, make sure that your doctor is POSITIVE that you're dealing with stress incontinence and not urge incontinence, or an overactive bladder. If your incontinence is due to overactive bladder, a sling or injectables can make overactive bladder worse, sending you down a long road of revision surgery, overactive bladder medications, Kegel exercise therapies and bladder retaining drills. If your incontinence is due to BOTH stress and urge incontinence, you may need both a sling for the stress incontinence, and medications, Kegels and retraining for the urge incontinence. Sometimes it's best to treat the urge incontinence before undergoing a sling procedure, and sometimes the sling should come first. Communication with your doctor is crucial, because you are the most important player in your quest for bladder control. If you understand the game plan, you're much more likely to get the results you need. The bottom line is wetting your pants not only is messy and not normal, it can drive you nuts, ruin your self esteem, your social life, your athletic performance, your professional presence and your sexuality. Don't suffer in silence. It's just not worth it.

[x]   Bio: Dr. Lauri Romanzi is a reconstructive pelvic surgeon, urogynecologist and clinical associate professor at Weill/Cornell New York Presbyterian Hosptial in New York City. Her urogynecologic research includes prolapse, incontinence, overactive bladder, Kegel fitness scoring, genital sensitivity nerve testing and fistula repair. Her 2009 book Plumbing and Renovation: If you have a uterus or know someone who does, this book is for you provides the lay public with a review on pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence and pelvic floor fitness.

Dr. Romanzi has been a featured expert on the Today Show, The Dr. Oz Show and Good Morning America. Additional media credits include: NY Times, Fox 5, London Guardian, More Magazine, Redbook, Oprah Magazine, Telemundo, Radio Ritas, Dr. Radio, Cosmo Radio, London Times, Playboy Radio and Italian Playboy.

Dr. Romanzi advises women with pelvic floor disorders who cannot travel to New York through her blog (www.urogynics.org/blog – ask Dr R feature). In 2008 she opened PHIT, the world's first medical spa devoted to Kegel -focused feminine rejuvenation (www.theperfectphit.com ).

Dr. Romanzi's international work with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Surgeons Over Seas and other international groups includes teaching and volunteer surgery for women suffering childbirth injury and war trauma in Niger, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.